The United States of Songs: Colorado
Friday, June 3, 2011
You probably know the rules by now, but just in case here’s what The United States of Songs is all about: each week I try to find the perfect song for a state in the union, proceeding alphabetically. The song’s got to be an ode to the entire state, not just a cool city or feature, and it’s got to have the state name in the title. Which, looking back, makes it a hell of a lot harder. And this week it’s the Centennial State’s turn.
The state: Colorado
The song: “Colorado” by National Lampoon, as sung by Chevy Chase
Boy, there sure are a lot of folksy, country-tinged ballads for Colorado. To say nothing of all that John Denver material. But Colorado’s not just beautiful mountains and red rivers. There’s stuff to do there besides stare wistfully out into the mountainous scrubland from the porch of your ranch. Yeah, it’s very much a “natural beauty” kind of state, and places like Denver are pretty groovy when it comes to eco-consciousness, bike paths, and the like. But Colorado’s got cool people.
You can hike in the morning and be at a microbrewery in the afternoon before heading out to a comedy club in the evening. And that’s what I like most about Colorado: there’s a mingling of scenes. Sure, Chevy Chase singing about bears eating their store of soy beans isn’t indicative of modern Colorado life, but it IS indicative of the kind of things I’d be doing in Colorado, mainly skulking around comedy clubs.
Even setting aside that this is a comedy song, it’s a well done song. The pedal steel sounds as at home as it would in any other western tune. Even the chorus of “Colorado’s calling me” makes me want to be there, John Belushi’s yelling included. And yeah, I wanted to shake it up a bit from all the folk music tributes. Colorado’s got a sense of humor. They’re cool with it.
Coloradans, let me know if I offended your sensibilities or not. Next week brings what could be my greatest challenge of this series: Connecticut. Fire away with your suggestions!
Runner up: “Colorado” by The Flying Burrito Brothers
Most Laughable Suggestion: “Colorado Sunrise” by 3OH!3
Flickr photo Colorado by José Maria Silveira Neto used under a Creative Commons License.
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